New STAR WARS Episode 7 Casting; Plus Kevin Smith Breaks Silence on His Set Visit and Watch Some “Leaked” Footage

A bit of Star Wars 7 casting and hiatus news was announced today, so I figured I’d combine that with a few other SW7 tidbits on a slow Sunday. First, the official news that Crystal Clarke and Pip Anderson (both pictured above) have joined the cast of the J.J. Abrams directed Star Wars: Episode VII. Also, according to the official announcement, there will be a two week hiatus from shooting in August to allow the schedule to work around Harrison Ford‘s leg injury.

Meanwhile, Kevin Smith has found a way to keep talking about the film (without saying all that much) despite the fact that he signed a fat NDA that initially only allowed him to post an instagram video of himself crying. Hit the jump for that and for some “leaked” Star Wars Episode 7 footage.

Slashfilm caught wind of a Q&A Smith gave the Neuchatel International Film Festival in Switzerland. He talks about seeing Storm Troopers, the Millennium Falcon and the overall tactile nature of the set. You can watch it below (skip to the 35 minute mark for the SW7 stuff). Per Smith:

What I saw, I absolutely loved. It was tactile — it was real. It wasn’t a series of fucking green screens and blue screens in which later a bunch of digital characters would be added. IT was there, it was happening. I saw old friends who I haven’t seen since my childhood, who aren’t really friends, but I love them more than some of my fucking relatives. I saw uniforms, I saw artillery I haven’t seen since I was a kid. I saw them shooting an actual sequence in a set that was real. I walked across the set, there were explosions. And it looked like a shot right out of a Star Wars movie.

Finally, YouTube user Frank Wunderlich posted a fun home made look at what leaked footage of a Star Wars set might look like if all of the tech in the films actually existed in real life (and if they shot on location at the Frankfurt Airport).

Official press release on casting and hiatus:

At the end of last year Lucasfilm and Disney invited all young aspiring actors to attend an open casting call for roles in J.J Abrams’ Star Wars Episode VII. The casting calls spanned 11 cities across the US and UK and over 37,000 hopefuls attended, with a further 30,000 submitting applications online.

Having hunted high and low for young and undiscovered talent, the filmmakers are delighted to announce that two actors from the open call call have been cast.

Crystal Clarke is an American actress studying in Glasgow, UK, who has both stage and screen acting experience and is soon to be seen in her first feature,The Moon and the Sun (to be released in 2015). British actor Pip Andersen is a skilled practitioner of parkour, a discipline that involves propelling oneself through any given environment with incredible grace and agility. Pip recently demonstrated this remarkable skill in a Spider-Man ad for Sony.

“The Star Wars universe has always been about discovering and nurturing young talent and in casting Episode VII we wanted to remain absolutely faithful to this tradition. We are delighted that so many travelled to see us at the open casting calls and that we have been able to make Crystal and Pip a part of the film,” said producer and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy.

Meanwhile, principal photography continues at Pinewood Studios in London after wrapping on location in Abu Dhabi in May.

In August, the team will take a brief two-week hiatus while adjustments to the current production schedule are made as actor Harrison Ford recovers from a leg injury. Harrison is doing well and is looking forward to returning to the set soon. Shooting remains on track to wrap in the fall with the film scheduled for release on December 18, 2015.

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